UN envoy moves base to Geneva ahead of Syria talks

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.’s special envoy to Syria says he has moved his base to Geneva to prepare for a conference aimed at finding a political solution to the deepening conflict.

Lakhdar Brahimi says he has long planned to relocate from the Middle East, and is now in “the last stage of preparation” for a second Geneva peace conference to follow up on the June 2012 foreign ministers’ conference.

Brahimi told U.N. television in an interview released Friday that a conference in September remains a possibility.

He said resumption in negotiations over Syria’s future is imperative, but the big obstacle to bringing the sides together is that “each one of them thinks that they can win militarily.”

Another U.S.-Russia meeting to prepare for Geneva is planned for Wednesday.